Vladimir Putin has once again stunned the West with his ruthless opportunism. Send troops into Crimea? No, Putin wouldn't be that reckless, multiple foreign policy experts assured the public last week. A headline in the respected journal Foreign Affairs was typical of the optimism: "Why Russia Won't Invade Ukraine," it declared.Not long after that prediction, Russian troops in unm...

We're seeing a 21st century reimagining, as they like to say in Hollywood, of the Sudetenland in 1938. Hitler saw himself as the protector of ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, and moved in. Now we can see the modern incarnation of Neville Chamberlain in action against Putin.

Last edited by Atlas V on March 2nd, 2014, 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, Obama's failure is masked by the Post. He gets an "A" for a "good start" from the Post. The leader of the free world doesn't figure very prominently in the editorial interestingly. Glad the Post endorsed him. Clearly the right choice. David Remnick, whoever he is, is more prominent than Obama in the editorial. Took the Post a bit to say anything too.

Putin is a strong, bullheaded nationalist who has longed for the return to the old Russia and it's imagined greatness. Unfortunately in this situation, everyone's hands are tied. Europe has been dependent on Russian gas for years, with few practical alternatives. They have no leverage, nor has a divided Ukraine with its Russian speaking constituents of one fraction vs its EU advocates. In this round, Putin holds all the cards, or so it seems. There is the "be careful what you wish for" factor. He now has 50 million mouths to feed, and provide for, a reality that he probably didn't take into consideration before letting the dogs loose.

1.) 'Murica has no moral authority--NONE--to tell other countries how to behave. Since the beginning of the 20th century this country has gone from a constitutional republic to a fascist global empire, having invaded dozens of sovereign countries and installed numerous puppet regimes. The U.S. telling other countries how to behave is like James Holmes telling people not to shoot up a movie theater.

2.) This is NONE of our business. It's an Eastern European problem; let THEM take care of it. The age of Team America: World Police must end.

3.) This entire operation was set up and executed by the CIA, at the cost of the American taxpayer. Once again, We the People unknowingly financed a coup of the democratically elected leader of a sovereign foreign nation. Still love doing income taxes every year?

I warned you people back in 2007 that Obama was going to be a carbon-copy of Bush and would continue most of his policies. And you laughed at me. All I have to say about that is:

Putin must understand that there are enduring consequences for any expansion of the Russian incursion, that Russia for the remainder of Obama's administration will be considered a rogue regime and that Putin himself will no longer be welcome where world leaders convene.

Come on DP. Do you really think Putin cares what the US thinks? Or that he will no longer be invited to their social parties? He just threw away $50B in good will that he spent on the Olympics. He can strike havoc in Europe by shutting off the spigots. To believe that he [Putin] will be deterred by not being allowed to play with the other boys is absurd.

Atlas V wrote:We're seeing a 21st century reimagining, as they like to say in Hollywood, of the Sudetenland in 1938. Hitler saw himself as the protector of ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, and moved in. Now we can see the modern incarnation of Neville Chamberlain in action against Putin.

What a perfect comparison, Barak Obama and Neville Chamberlain. Two completely inept leaders. Do you think Putin would have dared to do this if Ronald Reagan were in office? We've got a weaker version of Jimmy Carter in office. No one takes the US seriously, not the Europeans, not the middle eastern countries, and especially not Putin.

Atlas V wrote:We're seeing a 21st century reimagining, as they like to say in Hollywood, of the Sudetenland in 1938. Hitler saw himself as the protector of ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, and moved in. Now we can see the modern incarnation of Neville Chamberlain in action against Putin.

What a perfect comparison, Barak Obama and Neville Chamberlain. Two completely inept leaders. Do you think Putin would have dared to do this if Ronald Reagan were in office? We've got a weaker version of Jimmy Carter in office. No one takes the US seriously, not the Europeans, not the middle eastern countries, and especially not Putin.

While I agree with everybody about Putin's intentions, if this was a US base we would do the same thing, mainly because the last thing we would want is the Ukrainians to get the nuclear weapons that Russia has stored in their naval base in the Crimea.

“A liberal is a man who will give away everything he doesn’t own.” — Frank Dane "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - Margaret Thatcher

The naivete of our elites never ceases to amaze. Putin invaded part of Georgia in 2008 so who could realistically doubt that he would invade the Ukraine?

Putin is a Machiavellian. If he can get away with it he will do it. He has that in common with Obama and Harry Reid. All three will scorch the earth if it means that they win right now.

Obama played the fool for Putin by unilaterally removing missile defense systems from Poland. In 2012 Obama was caught on an open microphone assuring Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that he would be able to give away even more in negotiations after the election than he could before the election.

The way to understand Putin is that he is the leader of a nationwide crime syndicate known as Russia. He's not hard to figure out, but for some reason Obama thinks there's something to be gained by being a patsy for Putin.

We don't have a strong hand to play, just as we didn't have any good options after 9/11. But we do have options. Obama could reverse his foolish decision to remove missile defenses from Poland. That would exact an immediate price for Putin's aggression.

But realistically we shouldn't expect anything more than hollow posturing. Obama is just not up to the job of dealing with Putin.

So Bammie "reset with Russia" seems to have worked well. Too bad their isn't another missile defense system he could abandon his first day in office. Because nothing makes Russia play nice like Obama rolling over on his belly his first week in office.

Lets see. Bammie abandons sanctions on Iran because he trust them, and three hours later Russia gets a contract for 500,000 barrels of oil a day for Iran which it is selling to Turkey and India. Great job Bammie. Nothing says we are happy with all you do to help in Syria by flying in arms and ammunition and pretending to care about chemical weapons, like giving Putin 500,000 barrels or oil a day!

ANyone see plastic head Kerry on This Week in Washington this morning? The great traitor and coward said 15 time that "Russia has legitimate concerns in Ukraine"??????? The man legitimized the invasion for all the world and then threatened Putin that the US might not hold preplanning meetings for the G8 summit. OOOOOOHHHHHHH so scary! Going to cancel pre-planning meetings. That'll so him.

Russia should lose their seat at the UN security council. The UN are supposed to exist to prevent this sort of thing, shows what an inneffectual and worthless organization they are that they are unable or unwilling to intevene in geneocide in africa, aggresive acts of invasion to reclaim "Mother Russia" and illegal invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and of course the 800 pound gorilla of North Korea, the most repressive and despotic regime since Stalin. Not a great record all around. I predict nothing will be done, Putin may decide not to annexe Crimea and possibly more, but this is appearing exceedingly unlikely. I wonder what it would take for the appeasement to cease?

Putin is a warrior and strategist, a man commanding power and authority.

Obama is a golfer and vacationer, a narcissist craving unthinking worship.

This -Putin vs. Obama- is like pitting a Chess Grandmaster against a rank and file Checker player.

What no one seems to be recognizing is that Putin is now making a move in a much larger game plan, one calculated to develop a position in the larger game with the Ukraine being a skirmish move on the board that will further his larger strategy no matter which way it goes.

Putin is in a win/win situation, Obama is in (at best) a lose or stalemate position: We come out behind either way and Putin comes out ahead since we consume our political and strategic resources in the process and are left weaker.

The stakes here are much, much higher than most of us realize.

"The only people who don't want to disclose the truth are people with something to hide." (Barack Obama August 21, 2010)

Atlas V wrote:We're seeing a 21st century reimagining, as they like to say in Hollywood, of the Sudetenland in 1938. Hitler saw himself as the protector of ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, and moved in. Now we can see the modern incarnation of Neville Chamberlain in action against Putin.

What a perfect comparison, Barak Obama and Neville Chamberlain. Two completely inept leaders. Do you think Putin would have dared to do this if Ronald Reagan were in office? We've got a weaker version of Jimmy Carter in office. No one takes the US seriously, not the Europeans, not the middle eastern countries, and especially not Putin.

You're right- the Soviets left Afghanistan out of fear of Reagan after only 8 short years.

We have no dog in this hunt. Ukraine is historically within the sphere of influence of the Russian and Soviet empires. Obama should make the obligatory verbal slapdown and then shut up. After 30 years of living under the Cold War, the last thing I see desirable is to get into a pissing match with the country that was our only global competitor and that has rough parity in nuclear weapons. We ain't Team America: World Police. If this were a part of northern Mexico or Canada, we'd be rightly concerned, but this isn't even close to our national interests.

Putin must understand that there are enduring consequences for any expansion of the Russian incursion, that Russia for the remainder of Obama's administration will be considered a rogue regime and that Putin himself will no longer be welcome where world leaders convene.

Come on DP. Do you really think Putin cares what the US thinks? Or that he will no longer be invited to their social parties? He just threw away $50B in good will that he spent on the Olympics. He can strike havoc in Europe by shutting off the spigots. To believe that he [Putin] will be deterred by not being allowed to play with the other boys is absurd.

Agreed! The Russian Bear is back and is alive and well. Putin no more cares about what Obama thinks than what I think. We may come to rue the day that we did all the "right-sizing" to out military. Remember, Russia is also a nuclear power. That is terrifying! Oh, Ronnie Reagan would have kicked his butt!!!!

Sid wrote:Putin is a warrior and strategist, a man commanding power and authority.

Obama is a golfer and vacationer, a narcissist craving unthinking worship.

This -Putin vs. Obama- is like pitting a Chess Grandmaster against a rank and file Checker player.

What no one seems to be recognizing is that Putin is now making a move in a much larger game plan, one calculated to develop a position in the larger game with the Ukraine being a skirmish move on the board that will further his larger strategy no matter which way it goes.

Putin is in a win/win situation, Obama is in (at best) a lose or stalemate position: We come out behind either way and Putin comes out ahead since we consume our political and strategic resources in the process and are left weaker.

The stakes here are much, much higher than most of us realize.

You are correct, Sid. I firmly believe that Putin want the old USSR back. He was a hardliner with the KGB, those guys DO NOT change! We are in for a view, watch what he does next!